The Valkyrie Chronicles: Mab-Bu
by mmulhollon
Summary: After finishing their mission on Termina, everyone is finding their own way of enjoying their leave. Except Ender and Petra decided to do something that would help another race to understand their superhuman powers in a way that they know how with the help of a known superhuman, Khan.


The Valkyrie Chronicles:

Mab-Bu

By Michael Mulhollon

When the USS Soyuz arrived at Mab-Bu Michael and Chloe entered the transporter room with their belongings to see Gabriel and the others waiting. Michael said, "Who are you all waiting for?", Gabriel replied, "For you of course. We want to say our goodbyes before we leave.", Michael said, "And what are you going to be doing with your spare time?", Gabriel replied, "Most likely in the rifle range. With your connections I was able to acquire a rifle range that is part of this house I am staying.", Michael laughed heartedly and said, "You lucky dog! Is it only yourself?", Law said, "Unfortunately not! Apparently the place I was going to stay was damaged by a forest fire, so I am forced to stay with him!", Michael and Chloe looked surprised and Michael looked at Gabriel as he gave a slight smirk and Michael whispered in his ear, "Good luck.", Law looked at them alarmed and yelled, "WHAT?", Michael turned his attention to everyone else and said, "I hope you have a nice long rest and hope we see each other again!", and they all gave each other goodbyes before each of them went up to the transporter pads and began beaming down to the surface of Mab-Bu.

Once Gabriel and Jen Law rematerialized on the surface they were greeted by a large two story colonial house right in front of them and Law looked at him shocked and said, "Seriously?!", Gabriel replied, "I'm use to living in big houses. It's a force of habitat, that and sword fighting and rifle shooting.", Law grabbed her only two bags and walked briskly ahead of him and said, "I'm taking the first bedroom I see.", Gabriel said, "Except the main bedroom, that one is mine.", Law looked at him before reaching the steps and replied, "Then you better claim it before I do!", and she continued onwards as Gabriel throat growled in aggravation and he grabbed his bags and walked towards the front door as Law opened it and he walked fast to catch up as he said to himself, "This is going to be one hell of a vacation.", before he entered and kicked the door close with the back of his knee high boots.

The doorbell rang and Ender walked up and answered it to see Michael and a tall latino black haired male standing beside him and Michael said cheerfully, "Hi Ender, how is the unpacking going!", Ender sighed and said, "We just finished.", he looked at the stranger beside Michael and Ender said, "Who is this?", Michael replied, "Ender I want you to meet Khan Noonien Singh. Khan this is Andrew Wiggin I was talking about.", Ender then looked wide eyed at Khan as he extended his hand and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Wiggin.", Ender hesitated but quickly overcame as he took Khan's hand and he replied, "The the pleasure is mine Mr. Singh.", Khan said, "Please, just call me Khan.", Michael lightly laughed and said, "You can relax Ender.", and Ender noticed he was tensed and he relaxed with a sigh of relief and said, "Thank You, you can just call me Ender likewise Khan.", Petra yelled from upstairs, "Ender who is it?!", Ender replied, "Michael and a guest!", Petra yelled back, "Do they want anything to eat?!", Michael and Khan nodded and Ender yelled back, "No, we're good!", and Ender invited them inside and Michael said, "We have something special for you and Petra if you are interested.", and they all sat in the living room. Khan told Ender he has brought a special ship with him that was formally a botanical cruiser but is reconfigured into a Battle School similar to what Ender and Petra were on. Ender kept a straight face as he remained silent as Khan further explained that the school is built to test or regain their superior abilities. Khan said, "I will be one of your instructors and I will personally teach you and the classmates you will lead self-defense and tactics. When I met with the leader of the Velora Aggregate and told him about you and Petra as well as myself and my people he and his people are delighted and wish to have their younger generations join in the training if you and Petra approve.", Ender sat back in silence till he replied, "Why would I want to be a leader of an army, if this school is organized like the Battle School I remember, and how will this keep me from turning into my brother who is obsessed with killing?", Khan said, "Michael told me about your hesitation with killing or hurting others and the only way to overcome your fears is you must strengthen your mind and body and develop a sense of control while doing so. These children are like us and your girlfriend but have no sense of direction or control and some of them may even try to challenge you.", Ender said, "What about communications? Can I talk to people outside the school?", Khan replied, "Since we are not at war you can receive and send letters or calls to whomever you wish, as long as you don't discuss about your training in detail.", Ender said, "How long is this supposed to last?", Khan replied, "For now it is one year. This is the first year that this school or station will be operational and after one year the administration and I will determine how long should the school last for each group of students.", Ender stood up and said, "Then I will join. I'll talk to Petra but if I agree then no doubt she will to.", Ender and Khan shook hands and Khan said, "Excellent. In one week the school year will begin and the ship is right now in orbit and awaiting for your arrival. Just hail them on your communicator and they should beam you two up.", they all said their goodbyes and they left Ender and Petra's home before Ender could fully process if what he is doing is right.

Ender and Petra rematerialized and saw the transporter room that looks like it has no paneling on the walls or ceiling as Petra looked surprised and said, "What a frickin' mess!", the operator behind the console said, "Sorry ma'm, this station had no transporter rooms built so we had to improvise.", Petra then looked at Ender when they stepped off and said, "I still think this is a bad idea.", Ender said, "Then why did you come?", Petra replied, "Because you can't do this alone, plus I do agree with Khan said that this may help you overcome your worries about your brother.", they left the transporter room and were a little shocked to see a lot of similarities to Battle School and they saw orange lights along the ceiling going towards the right and Ender said, "I believe that's us.", and they walked down till they saw an emblem on the door that has a mountain in a circle and the door slid open on automatic before they walked in and saw the words "Commanders Quarters" above another doorway to the right of a large metal pillar in the middle of the circular room and they saw the words "Barracks" to the left. As they entered a dark blonde haired boy ran into Ender and he said, "Sorry I'm...", he looked up and was shocked to see Ender and he immediately stood at attention and said, "Good afternoon ma'm and sir! Joachim Weiss of Ceti Alpha V reporting for duty!", Ender waved down his hand and said, "At ease Joachim. I am your commander and this is a military school but we can relax on the formalities for now.", Joachim nervously relaxed and said, "Yes sir.", and Ender extended his hand and said, "Just call me Ender, Joachim. If we are going to work together I insist we use our first names so it will feel like we are a family.", Joachim shook his hand steadily and Ender said, "Are they all here yet?", Joachim replied, "Yes si... Ender. We are just waiting for you and Petra.", they entered the barracks as Joachim called them to attention. Petra stood behind and to the side of Ender when he introduced himself and Petra and told them that he plans to make this the best army in the school. He also told them that if anyone has any ideas he and Petra are more than willing to listen and if they are going to make it through the year they have to work together as a family. The loudspeaker came on and a male voice said, "Olympus report to Battle Dome 1. Repeat, Olympus...", Joachim said, "That's us sir. The dome is right above us.", Ender told his army to suit up and once they did they fell into formation and they followed the ladder well that is outside Olympus to the dome above where there are many platforms and cube objects (like in the Battle Room) and Ender gave them the same orientation that Graff taught him when he first entered the Battle Room. Ender stood by while Petra went out with Joachim and taught them how to navigate through the weightlessness and how to activate their gravity boots even as they walked on the dome floor. Ender heard the sound of someone climbing the ladder and when he looked back he saw Khan in his gravity suit standing behind him and he told Ender to have them form up. Ender called them back and once they were able to make it back (with some difficulty) Khan gave them a briefing to use the lighted cubes to their advantage when they fight and he told them as he is their head instructor he expect the best from this army and once he finished he let Ender take charge and tell them the goals and purpose of the Battle Dome.

Ender briefed his army that the battle is determined whoever army is last standing or if an opposing army surrenders to the other. He told them about the gravity boots and how they can use them to their advantage and once his army was able to activate their boots he told them that per each dome there are four armies and at times they will have to report to other domes for battle. He also briefed them about their pistols and how they are use to freeze their opponents where ever they are whitened once Ender finished with the debriefing Khan intervened and told all of them to report to classroom A for the rest of their orientation. As the rest of his army was making its way to the classroom Ender asked Khan how does he and the rest of the administration know about Battle School since the ship and rules are so very similar and Khan replied, "You think you and Petra are the only ones that went through Battle School?", and he left as Ender looked at him puzzled. As what Ender learned in Battle School in Dragon Army he had his army practice in the Battle Dome during their free time and he even gives them little time to get dressed and ready, but after the first couple of battles his army surprisingly was able to adapt quickly that even at one time Ender entered the barracks with only two minutes to spare he saw his army was already waiting for him and he quickly overcame his shock and they went to battle.

For the next six days they had a battle every day at four in the morning giving Ender's army four hours of sleep and they won every battle in the process. One day after lunch Ender received a message of another battle that day after winning one earlier and he was told classes are pushed back till after the battle. Petra saw the message as Ender read it to her in their shared quarters and they ran into the barracks and called the rest of the army to attention and told them about the message he received. Some of them groaned with disappointment but the rest did not flinched and they suited up and marched up to the ladder to the dome above them where the rival army was waiting and Olympus won the battle both to Ender and Petra's surprise. For the next four days they fought two battles a day and end up getting two to three hours a sleep a night due to classes being pushed back and Ender and Petra are even more surprised that the kids in their army are not complaining too much nor even protesting the amount of battles they fought and the little sleep they're getting even as they noticed some of the students looked like they may pass out from time to time and Ender relayed his protest to Khan but only left a message as for some reason he avoids talking to him. Khan sent a reply message and told him he will talk to the school administrator to see if he can drop it back down to one battle a day at least but there are no guarantees. He urged Ender to hang in there during this time as he believes he will and Ender turned off his computer and went straight to bed making one pound on the wall panel next to him in frustration and not staying up to do his studies as Petra sat at her desk and glances at his direction with a worried expression. The two battles a day began taking its toll when after two weeks almost two third's of their battles were on the verge of losing and some of them lasted so long that when they went to bed they have only enough time to get 10 to 15 minutes worth before finishing their studies and the next battle.

Late one night as Ender slept he jerked in bed a little as he dreamt he, Petra, Bernard, Dink, Bean and Alai were trying to escape from Peter as he lead a dreadnought that continued to fire on their shuttle and he heard their voices yelling out orders or damage reports as the shuttle was taking multiple hits. Ender then began sweating and moaning orders on top of his body jerking when in his dream he saw the computer console in front of Dink exploded showering his face with sparks and debris as Dink was also thrown back and hit the back of his head on the elevated floor behind him as blood began running down like a stream from where he hit his head as he laid motionless. Petra screamed, "DINK!", and she was about to leave her station when Ender yelled out, "PETRA! KEEP PETER FROM TARGETING US!", and Petra quickly remembered and resumed her station as Ender called Bernard to check Dink. Once Bernard left his station as the shuttle jerked the floor panel beneath him exploded flipping Bernard's body in the air before landing on the floor with his head resting on Dink's lap and Ender noticed his legs are missing leaving bloody stumps as blood spurted from is severed arteries and his face is partially burnt as he laid motionless. He called over to Alai and just as Alai looked at him the console and the floor beneath Alai exploded (engulfing him in flames) and he saw a figure rose from the flames and began flailing about screaming bloody murder. After a few moments Ender recognized the face as Alai as Alai continuously screamed (while groping his melting, burning face in the flames), "ENDER! ENDER! ENDERRRRRRRRR!", and all of a sudden there was a flash of light as Alai was shot in the forehead and Alai fell on his back laying motionless as he continued to burn. Ender looked to see who it was till there was an explosion that erupted in front of himself and the next thing he saw was Bean standing in front of the destroyed bridge and a hatch closed between them and he heard Bean say, "I will see you again.", then the image changed to the wrecked shuttle he was on crashing into the side of the International Fleet's dreadnought and exploded and Ender screamed, "NOOOOOOOO!", and he felt a hard smack across his face and the next thing he saw was Peter's face over him in bed and Ender's face filled with rage and he screamed, "YOU!", and Ender immediately clasped his hands around Peter's throat and threw him back on the bed as Ender sat on top of him and squeezed all his might as Peter smiled back up at him and he said, "Good, you are a killer now.", and Ender screamed at him in rage till all of a sudden something grabbed his left hand and Ender was flipped over and his back slammed onto the metal deck as his arms and hands were pinned to the floor and he then heard a young man's voice yelling, "Commander Wiggin, he's dead!", and Ender looked up to see Peter's face transform into Joachim's. Ender looked shocked and continued to breath heavily as he heard someone gasping for breath and when he looked at his bed he saw Petra sitting on the side of the bed rubbing her throat as Ender saw deep red finger marks and her face is light purple. Ender looked shocked and said, "Petra...I'm sorry.", Joachim let him go as Ender sat up confused as the other students arrived and stood at the entrance to the Commander's quarters.

Once the medical team arrive the teachers came and urged the students to go back to bed and they eventually left leaving only Joachim and Petra sitting next to Ender's side. Ender looked at Joachim as he was able to control his breathing and said, "Joachim, go ahead.", Joachim looked confused and said, "Sir?", Ender replied, "You are their leader now. Till I am cleared.", Joachim was about to protest but stopped himself as Petra held Ender's hands (as they were shaking) and Joachim nodded and left. As the medical team finished their examination the doctor told him that he suffered a severe anxiety attack and he must rest for two days before reporting back to classes or further training. Ender nodded in agreement and the doctor gave Petra a slip of paper and said, "Since you two are close I'm leaving his care to you, AND no funny business!", Ender looked down to keep from showing his smile as Petra looked at the doctor and acknowledged before he left and then they both laughed.

During those two days Ender either exercised in his quarters or stayed in bed with Petra by his side and embracing him as they slept when the intercom in his came to life and a male voice said, "Andrew Wiggin, Petra Arkanian and Khan Singh report to the bridge immediately.", and Ender sighed with disappointment as Petra got out of bed. As they went up the ladder in the tube and entered the bridge they saw two roles of computer consoles with one in the back on an elevated platform while another row is ahead with a large glass window separating the vacuum of space and Khan was already standing by a short grey haired man with their back to them in a red Zhargosian uniform. As they approached Khan and who they believe is the captain the officer faced them and told Ender and Petra that they have an unidentified ship that is adrift and sending out an emergency signal and according to their scanners the ship's designs are not in the data base and they want Ender, Petra and Khan to see if they can identify it. Ender said, "Yes sir, we will try our best." , the captain replied, "Good.", he turned to another officer on his right on one of the consoles and said, "Proceed into the Taurus Nebula!", and the officer pressed a few buttons and the ship entered the cloudy nebula covering the glass with purple fog. After a few moments and officer in the back said, "We are about to clear the fog! The ship should come into view any moment!", the fog finally cleared and Ender and Petra went from being concerned to shock as they starred at the main viewer and the captain noticed and said, "What is that?", Petra is the first to come to and she said, "Sir, that is an Interstellar Transport ship from the International Fleet.", and they all looked in amazement until they received a message that a Miranda and a Constellation class starships arrived to assist. One of the operator's on the bridge called out that the captain of the Mirage has detected faint life signs on board the derelict and the captain said, "Prepare a boarding party, this will be a good lesson for our students. Andrew Wiggin, Petra Arkanian, you will lead two groups of students to board the derelict as Khan will be your senior supervisor as well as a handful of teachers and adults that will follow.", Ender was about to speak when the captain said, "That's all!", and Ender looked at Petra (who nodded "no") and Ender kept his mouth shut and walked away.

The deadline hooked onto one of the clips on the belt of a gravity suit as Ender looked up to see the other students do the same as the adults watched but none of the dozen students in Ender's group needed help. Ender looked at the hatch in front of him as the light above is red till suddenly it turned green and Ender put both his hands out and pulled down the lever on the hatch and it opened sending out a short gust of wind as the air inside was sucked out into space. Ender put his hands on the sides of his thighs and there was a short burst as small thrusters are attached to the sides of his thighs and he lead his group out into space followed by Petra's and one group of teachers/adults. They continued moving forward as they are well away from the ship and the only thing that is keeping them together is the deadline and Ender, Petra and Khan leading the groups with their thrusters attached to their thighs till they finally reached the derelict transport. Ender, Petra and Khan probed the hull of the ship with their hands trying to find a lever or something to get them inside till Ender found one when he swept the space dust away. Ender called out to Khan and Petra and they brought their groups to where he is and Ender pulled the lever and turned it counter-clockwise and the hatch opened. Once Ender and his group is inside they closed the outer hatch and there was the sound of decompression but they are still floating in the air when Ender opened the inside hatch and as they looked around the inside of the ship was a massive wreck. Ender led his group towards the bridge with their helmet lights on as there is no power or gravity and when they climbed up the staircase in zero gravity they noticed that the main viewer was blown out and everything that is loose (including any crew members) was blown out into space. As the rest of the group looked around Ender swept space dust off one of the powered down control consoles and saw the language he was familiar with and he pressed the red button that ended up turning on the console and he scrolled through with his finger and pressed another button that turned on the emergency power and lights throughout the ship. One of the adults said, "What the hell is going on?!", Ender replied, "This is Andrew Wiggin, I turned on the emergency power. Looks like all primary systems including life support and gravity are all but destroyed.", then he noticed a series of yellow lights blinking on the map diagram of the ship in front of him on the console and he touched the area to enlarge and it zoomed in to show lighted pill size spots and Ender said, "Correction, gravity and life support systems are fully functional but in certain areas that appear to be...", he paused as he looked confused and said, "cryo-tubes.", Khan said on the radio, "How many?", Ender pressed a few more buttons and said, "168.", he scrolled through the screen to find the manifest and the captain's logs but the computer records are all but destroyed or lost. Petra said, "Ender, you need to get down here right away!", Ender looked puzzled by her worried excited voice and said, "Why?", Petra replied frustratingly, "Just get down here now!", Ender looked around and found Joachim scrolling and looking through the navigation systems on the console in front and to the right of Ender and Ender said, "Joachim.", he turned to look at Ender and Ender said, "You're in charge. I'm going to see what's getting Petra all worried.", Joachim replied, "Yes sir.", and Ender moved out and once he was out of the bridge he made his way down and followed the tethered line through an open wrecked bay as large sections of the ship were either blown inwards or fell apart till he went up a ladder and entered another open bay but this time having rows of tubes lining the walls along the scaffolding as more wrecked sections or parts of the ship laid in the middle of the large open bay and he found Petra with her head down and resting one of her hands on one of the tubes as he came up behind her and asked what's wrong. She turned at him and Ender noticed she is crying and she buried her face into Ender's chest and all she said is, "Behind me.". Ender looked at one of the cry-tubes and he brushed his right hand over the name plate and Ender looked shocked beyond belief and said, "It can't be.", as the name plate read, "Julian Delphiki III".

Back on Mab-Bu, after Arsenal and Carrie were dropped off, Arsenal carried both his and Carrie's bags and once Carrie opened the door and Arsenal dropped down the bags she approached to help him unpack but Arsenal raises his hand and says, "I got this.", Carrie smirked and she went upstairs and into the bedroom. Once Arsenal finished unpacking he went upstairs and saw Carrie laying on her side on the bed and Arsenal came up and laid down up beside her, even as the bed sagged and made a squeak sound as if it is about to break, and puts his arms around her and held her close as he closed his eyes. Carrie woke up briefly and she held his hands in hers and she smirked before going back to sleep. At first there is an undistinguishable whisper (as Carrie squirmed a little) and then there is more and more till it sounded like there is a large crowd in the room till suddenly a female voice yelled out, "PLUG IT UP!", and Carrie suddenly awoke, sweating and rasping for breath as she tried to sit up in bed looking around alert and Arsenal said calmly, "It's a dream. You are alright. Relax.", she laid back down in bed holding Arsenal's hands and arms tightly as he laid closer to comfort her.

The ships (including the battle school) left the Taurus Nebula as the Battle School Ship resumed orbit around Mab-Bu while the transport ship was taken (in tow) to Anar'Qand where the survivors in cryo-sleep will be awaken and the transport ship will be further analyzed. Once the battle school resumed orbit and both Ender and Petra overcame their shook of seeing a clone of Bean they were told the battles in the Battle Domes would be reduced to one per week and Ender and the others are able to relax after days of continuous battles that left them with very little sleep. Ender stood in the shower in the commander's quarters as the hot water ran down his face and body as he sighed. He heard the door to the quarters open and he said, "I'm in the shower, I'll be right out.", and he heard Petra say, "So who do you think he is? A clone?", Ender said, "I don't know. All I'm told is what you know and we have to wait till they are all awaken and can join us if Zhargosia and the Federation approve.", all of a sudden the shower door opened and Petra came in naked as Ender looked up shocked and said, "I said I'll be right out!", Petra replied, "Can't wait.", and she stood under the shower head as Ender stepped back for her to wash herself but she stood there and said, "Do you mind? I can't get my back.", and Ender ran soap around her back and as he looked up he saw her smiling over her shoulder at him and before he knew it he had his arms wrapped around her before they started kissing.

Since Michael and the others left for Termina and their return Crow and Carol stayed in the estate as Abby and Karl also lived their till Crow can find a way to reverse the effects Abby has as a vampire. One day Carol decided to leave the estate and went shopping and saw a group of older punk/hippy kids hanging outside the store talking to one another till as she left the store she saw that they are grouped right next to her car. She minded her own business as she opened the side door and put the groceries in (ignoring some of them that were staring at her) and as she was about to get in the car a hippy dressed teenager got in her way and said, "Aren't you the kid that lives up in the hill?", Carol stared down at her and said, "I am no kid hippy, but yeah I live there. Why?", the hippy said, "Cause this is the first time we saw you, and we have been here for months. Are you afraid to come out?", Carol said, "No, I just mind my own business. Plus the people here are not my type.", the hippy girl said, "Dude, the people here are not our type either! Cause the way we look we are outsiders to the rest of this stuck up society.", Carol replied, "I can believe that.", the girl introduced herself as Prin as the others also gathered around and introduced themselves as well. Prin then gave Carol the address to where they are staying and Carol told them she will come after she changes and drops off the groceries. Once she got back to the estate she quickly brought the groceries in and went upstairs to change into hippy like clothing before coming down and jumped in shock as Crow is already standing at the bottom of the stairs with his face hidden as the sun was setting behind him and he said, "Do you want me to come too?", Carol replied, "No, I don't believe they would approve you. I'll be fine on my with these punks.", Crow said, "I know. Are there boys in this group?", Carol stared at him with both frustration and anger and she said, "Yes, and don't even think I am getting any dirty ideas!", Crow replied calmly, "That is not my intent. I am just happy that you are finally going to meet and hang out with other people including the opposite sex.", Carol came down the stairs and said sarcastically, "You sound happy with that dull tone.", she still couldn't see his hidden face beneath his dark hair and shadows and she looked concerned and said, "Are you alright?", Crow put his hands on her shoulders and said, "Till now never better.", she then leaned forward and kissed his hidden lips as she embraced him and there was a sound of a car pulling up and a car horn and she said, "That's them. I may be home late.", Crow replied, "I'll wait for you.", and she went to the door and opened it before turning back and seeing him standing there with his face still hidden and she waved at him as she said to herself, "I hope he's right.", before turning around and closing the door behind her.


End file.
